Helping Parents of Picky Eaters with Plum Organics’ Big Baby Tantrum

A child screaming in the middle of a restaurant - we’ve all seen it before. No chicken nuggets on the menu? Sometimes, that’s all it takes for a happy, hungry tot to become a teary, tempestuous tyrant. 

This is why organic baby food brand Plum Organics takes children’s palate expansion so seriously. To highlight the importance of opening young ones up to new experiences - yes, even spinach - the brand partnered with Madwell to create its new ‘Big Babies’ campaign, featuring a hero film that flips the script and shows what a picky eater all-grown-up would look like.

Speaking to LBB’s Ben Conway, Madwell’s co-founder and CCO, Chris Sojka, discusses the creative challenge of persuading parents they could convert a ‘chicken-nugget-eating kid’, the process of watching 50 actors cry like babies during casting, and how the film’s lead mastered the art of the tantrum.

LBB> How did this campaign come about? Have you worked with Plum Organics before? 

Chris> In a win for parents and kids everywhere, the emphasis on organic has only strengthened over the past decade, and various programmes now help in providing aid, because all babies should have access to foods that are safer. The side effect for brands in the space is a marketing challenge: what is organic mango versus organic mango with two different brand names? The answer is, generally, organic mango.

Plum’s recipes are a structured set that runs the gamut from fruit-forward instant tastebud rewards that kids can’t get enough of (we saw it on set for this commercial and we’ve seen it during photoshoots) to flavour profiles that amp up more complex or atypical flavours to create something that’s more of a baby’s taste journey. So, if you just don’t have the energy to convince a picky eater, there’s a Plum product that has a very good chance of being something they’ll love, and is still healthy.

Plum Organics wanted to generate awareness and trial, and the brand needed to break through in a crowded category that doesn’t always talk to parents in the most authentic, unfiltered way.

The creative challenge at hand was to get parents who don’t want to raise picky eaters to believe their children can learn to love food through Plum. We needed to demonstrate what trying new foods looks like, and the lifelong benefits of opening up a child at a young age. We identified a ‘chicken-nugget-eating kid’ as the antithesis of a Plum baby, and the campaign stemmed from there.

LBB> What is at the core of the ‘Open Up’ campaign? What ideas does it explore, beyond the ‘Big Babies’ hero film?

Chris> A child’s mind is sponge-like in its tendency to absorb new experiences across all senses, including that which is most vital to this brand, and as such, our messaging: taste. Plum aids parents in their necessity to seize these fleeting moments, championing openness in the figurative, but also literal, sense through first experiences with food. Exaggerated comedy was the key device used to serve up our core message in a manner as palatable to parents as chicken nuggets might be to a picky eater. The ‘Big Baby’ is an exaggeration of what transpires when a child is denied the opportunity of new experiences in their formative years. 

The larger ‘Open Up’ campaign contains many more stories, all emphasising the opportunity parents have to open their child’s mind by offering them a wide variety of healthy foods and flavours from the beginning.

LBB> ‘Big Babies’ is a clever reversal of an all-too-common phenomenon - the tantrum of a picky eater. What inspired this film? Have you experienced this moment in your own life before?

Chris> Parents of picky eaters battle endlessly with the complex subject. They’ve all witnessed helplessly as their baby or toddler proceeded to throw a tantrum in the embarrassingly public setting of a restaurant. Introducing a child to new foods is as important as it is challenging. Our ‘Big Baby’ takes an unpleasant truth parents are accustomed to dealing with and presents the scenario in a fun way. We’re able to explain how Plum can truly help parents, without shaming them.

Our CD, Elinor, is a mom of two, and described multiple instances where the public embarrassment of an unruly tantrum-throwing little one led her to snatch her kids under her arm as though she was carrying a football and swiftly exit the restaurant. It's always a stressful situation, but one that we can find humour in once we look back at it. Toddlers overflow with emotions far greater than their small selves seem capable of containing, so we wanted to create little films for parents to relate to and laugh at.

LBB> What is the key to making this spot as funny as it is within just 30 seconds?

Chris> Casting babies is always an endeavour. There’s always the standard challenge of working with acting talent who hasn’t learned to speak - although our child talent carried herself in a professional manner uncharacteristic of her 18-month age. The less expected challenge with this spot was manufacturing a tantrum that was clearly artificial due to the content and context in which it took place, but which still managed to feel like a genuine recreation befitting the display a toddler might exhibit in similar circumstances. 

A plethora of tantrums available on social media were sourced and studied. Subtle nuances, like the fact they tend to develop gradually, a slow burn until the boiling point, rather than a simultaneous explosion of emotion right at commencement. It was vital we communicated the Big Baby’s outburst was nothing more than that of a frustrated child.

LBB> The Big Baby’s and toddler’s performances really make this spot - did you help with casting these characters? And how much of this was written by the creatives, versus letting the actor improvise his public tantrum?

Chris> Our team watched over 50 recordings of adult actors crying like babies. Out of those 50, we selected around a dozen for further consideration. However, one stood out as a star. One might expect a heavy debate on a subject as subjective as ‘who throws the best tantrum’, but it was, in fact, unanimous. It's truly challenging to portray a big baby convincingly. And one actor succeeded in a way his competitors did not.

Collaboration is core to the very nature of our process, so there was a wealth of ideas fostered on how a tantrum should be portrayed, what to do, and what to avoid. Finding that synergy between agency, director and talent with significant comedic timing and improvisational skill allowed us to achieve the appearance of authenticity in a moment that, by any rational set of criteria, would seldom occur.

LBB> What was the most difficult challenge you faced on this campaign? How did you overcome it?

Chris> Our biggest challenge was casting. The spot’s success hinged upon the performance given by the ‘Big Baby’, and it’s nearly impossible to guarantee a hilarious one until you start casting. We were searching for an actor who was technically skilled in physical comedy. We found it in our lead.

Ultimately, we captured the entire tantrum performed in multiple ways to give us plenty to work with during post-production. We pieced together the best moments from multiple tantrums to create the one that made us laugh the hardest: the one you see in the spot today. In addition to our ‘Big Baby’, we had little babies to cast. You never know which babies will be cooperative. Our collaboration with director Raul Fernandez and the talented ‘SNL’ crew was absolutely fantastic, bringing the best performances out of the little babies and Big Baby alike.

LBB> What can we expect from the future of the ‘Open Up’ campaign? Are there more films ahead?

Chris> The launch of this campaign signified the start of a new brand positioning around opening up to new things, and the learning experience of palate expansion. This film is just the beginning of far more content across multiple media touchpoints. Expect everything from shorter-form content pieces for CTV to varying lengths of social content and lifestyle photography. These campaign assets will run in programmatic display, paid social and a direct custom partnership with [food site] ‘The Kitchn’. Looking to the future, beyond the content we’ve already created, the core of this positioning will be in future chapters of work beyond this first iteration.